You are Frodo Baggins, an exceptional Hobbit. Your uncle Bilbo Baggins went
on adventures, something no normal Hobbit would do. On the most famous of
these he acquired a ring that made htm invisible. Bilbo has left this ring to
you and left the Shire to live among the Elves. Your friend the Wizard Gandalf
the Grey has identified this ring as being "The One Ring". This was forged by
the Sauron, the Dark Lord, it is very powerful and very evil. It contains much
of Sauron's power, with it he would defeat all his enemies and subjugate the
whole of Middle Earth, where it to be destroyed he would be defeated. Though
it would be possible to use it against Sauron, it would then corrupt the
wielder turning him into a new Dark Lord. Because of the magical nature of the
ring, it can only be destroyed by being thrown into the Cracks of Doom, where
it was forged. This is the mouth of the volcano Mt. Doom in the centre of
Sauron's kingdom Mordor far to the South East. You arc not on your own,
accompanying you are Sam. Merry and Pippin, three Hobbit friends. Aragorn the
ranger, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas an Elf, Gimli a Dwarf, and of course
Gandalf, As well as facing Sauron's forces, you will also be assailed by those
of the Wizard Saruman. Though he was originally the leader of the Council of
Wizards opposing Sauron, he has been corrupted. He has raised an army of Ores
and Dunlendings and he too is looking for the Ring, for he believes he can use
it to control Middle Earth. You will need to mobilise the nations of the West,
the men of Dale, Gondor and Rohan, the Elves of Loricn and Mirkwood and the
Dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills, or the forces of evil will win by force
of arms before you can destroy the Ring. II the forces of evil can find the
Ring and take it back to Barad-Dur or Isenguard you will lose.
LOADING THE GAME
AMSTRAD CPC 664 or 6128
From Disc From Tape
Insert the disk into Amstrad 464 Amstrad 6128
drive. Press CNTRL and Type |TAPE and press RETURN.
Type |CPM. small ENTER. Press CNTRL and small ENTER
SPECTRUM SPECTRUM +3 Disk
Type LOAD " " and press INTER. Insert the disk into the drive.
Press ENTER.
CONTROLS
AMSTRAD
Press 1 to use Joystick - This is automatically selected if no button is
pressed.
2 to use the cursor keys to move with SPACE to fire
3 to use the cursor keys to move with COPY to fire.
4 to use the user defined keys initially set to Q, A, O, P and SPACE.
5 to redefine the user keys - displayed in the bottom window. 0 to start
play.
Selected control method is indicated on the bottom line of the top window.
When definining your own key S you may choose keys for Up, Down, left. Right
and Fire in that order. You may choose any keys except R and ESC which are
reserved for the following functions.
R enters the Ring Menu
ESC pauses game
You will also be asked if you have a green screen or full colour monitor.
This selects the colours of the cursor to improve visibility. Selecting the
wrong option will not affect the computer but may mean that the cursor is
difficult to sec on the Battle Screen
SPECTRUM
Press 1 to use a KEMPSTON joystick.
2 to use a CURSORY joystick.
3 to use an INTERFACE 3 joystick
4 to use the keys.
5 to redefine the keys.
6 to set level. 0 to start play.
When defining your own keys you may choose keys for Up, Down. Left. Right and
Fire in that order You may choose any keys except 1 and R which are reserved
for the following functions
R enters the Ring Menu
I pauses game/abandon option.
PLAYING THE GAME
The Middle Earth Map displays the whole of Middle Earth on the screen. Along
the left hand side of the screen there is a list of commands. In the middle of
the map there is a gauntleted hand. This is the cursor, to select any action
simply position the finger over the desired point, using the joystick or keys.
Friendly units arc displayed on the map as dots. There are three commands:
File Allows you to save and load games to disk, select the option you want
using up and down controls and press fire to select.
Memo Gives you further information on the state of the game.
Time Sets the game in motion. Campaign time is shown on the scroll underneath
the command. Once time is started, all friendly units will start to
follow their orders Sauron's units will also start to move.
To examine any area of Middle Earth in more detail, or give orders, just
position the finger over the area you want and press fire. This stops time and
takes you to the Campaign Map. this is the same map but on an expanded scale.
Friendly units are displayed on the map as shields. A unit can be a single
character, such as Frodo, Aragorn or Gandalf, or it may be a body of troops.
Each shield represents all the units on a single point, this is called a
stack.
To examine a unit position the cursor over the shield and press fire. A
window will appear in the centre of the screen giving you the details of the
first unit in the stack. If you want to see who else is there, you need to
press fire again and move the joystick up or down to display each occupant in
turn. It is advisable to check each location to make sure you know exactlv who
is where.
For each unit you are told:
Title Either their name, or a description, e.g. a company of 002
men.
Who is in command "Man in command" etc. means no commander set.
Destination Where they are going.
Energy This is used up walking and by being hit in combat.
Determination How long they will keep going.
Steadfastness How fast their energy is used up.
Virtue How long they can hold the ring.
Bravery The braver you are the more often you will hit in combat.
Strength How much damage you do to an opponent when you hit.
Allegiance Fellowship, the good guys; Mordor, Sauron's troops or
Orthanc, Saruman's.
In order to give a unit an order, press fire twice while their details are
displayed on screen. This causes another window to open, giving you a choice
of four options. Select the desired choice and press fire.
Return do not give a new order
Set to Destination go to a specific destination, you are offered a second man
giving you the choice of applying the order to the
individual unit (individual) or all the units in the stack
(everyone).
Set to Join orders unit to join another unit's company.
Set to Follow orders unit to follow another.
When any of the Set to orders is selected, the cursor will change to a
flashing Maltese Cross. Position this to the desired place and press fire. A
unit may only join or follow another unit. Position the cursor over a shield
and pres fire, the cursor will stop flashing. and you can run through the
occupants until the desired unit is displayed. Press fire again, and you have
completed the order.
The character carrying the Ring, at the start of the game this is Frodo, is
indicated on the details by having a Ring after their name. If you want to
give the Ring to anyone else press R while their details are displayed, a list
of all the heroes inthe game appears, you can select any of these to give the
Ring to, but they must be in the same stack as the current Ring bearer.
When a combat occurs. Campaign time is stopped, and the screen displays the
campaign map with a pair of crossed swords at the sight of the battle Push the
joystick up to view your forces, left or right to view those of the enemy,
press fire to move to the Battle Screen. The cursor is replaced with the
battle cursor. Even- person etc. involved in battle has their own figure. 'Hie
screen only shows part of the battle, so they may be out of view. Your forces
are immobile until attacked or ordered. If they arc attacked they will
respond, however they will not initiate combat.
On the battle screen movement and control is along the diagonals. Up. Up and
Right; Left, Up and Left; Down. Down and Left; Right, Down and Right.
To order a character, position the cursor over him and press fire. Once you
have correctly selected a character, position the cursor over an enemy and
press fire, the message, "New destination selected" will appear and your
character will move to him and attack. To control a character directly, place
the cursor over him and press fire twice. The cursor will change to the
control cursor. He will now move under the control of the joyst ick or the
keys. As soon as he encounters an enemy he will start to fight and the battle
cursor will reappear. To get out of any sequence of controls press the pause
key
The Ring bearer has the option ofwearing the Ring. If you do not want to
fight then press R, He will then put on the Ring and disappear. This enables
him to sneak away from the bait le and will appear on the next square on the
campaign map. This greatly increases the effect of the Ring, your virtue will
decrease at a much greater rate than if you were just carrying the Ring.
Secondly, although the Ring makes you invisible to normal creatures, such as
Ores, it makes you highly visible to Nazgul.
CONTROLS
Amstrad Spectrum
Middle Earth Map Hand Hand
Campaign Map Hand Hand
Battle Cursor Purple Square Open Circle
Selection Cursor Blue Square Cross X
Control Cursor Red Square Closed Circle
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retyped in 2011 by hERMOL
Visit my website at http://CPCRULEZ.fr
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
Retyped in 2011 by hERMOL
Visit my website at http://CPCRULEZ.fr
------------------------------------------------------------------------------